Lillian Gish in BROKEN BLOSSOMS - The Smile

In BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1919), it was in the memorable nuances of her performance that twenty-six-year-old Lillian Gish really managed to bring off the illusion of playing the part of a child of fifteen. The most famous of these is now known as “The Smile.“ In the story, Gish’s monstrously cruel father, sick of her incessant gloom and despair, orders her to give him a smile. Director D. W. Griffith and his cast thought long and hard about some meaningful response Gish could give her father in that moment, some bit of pantomime that could expose the depths of sorrow permeating her soul. But it was Gish who came up with the answer, a perfect gesture that has since gone down as an iconic statement in the annals of filmmaking. As she explains it: “Suddenly it came to me: in the midst of the scene, and while the camera was grinding, I lifted my hand, spread my index and second fingers, and pushed up the corners of my lips into a ghastly, fixed-mouth smile. Mr. Griffith leapt to h